Tag Archives: garden

Encore: Autumn Garden Chores

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Was this really only two years ago? So much has happened since then. I was looking forward to spring, not knowing what awaited me. I still look forward to spring – as soon as I can get the tomatoes indoors for the fall harvest.

I’m looking forward to spring. I know, it’s not even winter yet, but autumn is the season when I pull apart the fading foliage of my garden and take steps to prepare for next spring. Chuck got into the thick of it this year. Take a look.

Straw bales and repurposed boards

Straw bales and repurposed boards

Another Angle

Another Angle

Rather Awesome, I'd say.

Rather Awesome, I’d say.

Yesterday and today I took to the task of harvesting all tomatoes that could ripen indoors. The herb pots are already inside. Next, I pulled all the tomato plants and tossed them on the brush pile at the back of our yard.

We’re adding leftover potting soils to the new patch as I deal with most of the containers. If weather permits, I will dig out compost from the base of the brush pile and from the base of the compost bin and fill in what I can of the new patch. It’s going to be a raised bed, built inside the repurposed lumber that Chuck assembled so nicely. Whatever I don’t fill this fall, we’ll build up next spring.

It’s another experiment: straw bale gardening. As long as we were expanding the once-triangular plot, we decided to try the bales. A year from now, when the growing season is done, the straw-based soil will become compost for the future. Planning ahead, we are.

But stay tuned, folks. There are still piles and piles of green tomatoes ripening indoors. I’m sure there will be stories.

So, readers, what kind of autumn tasks have fallen your way? Leaves? Lawns?

 

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Eating the Opponent: St. Louis

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If the Packers play the Rams often enough, I might be convinced to invest in a small home fryer for making fried ravioli. This time, though, we stuck with what we know we can make.

The neighborhood meat market had pork steaks on sale (coincidence? we think not), so Chuck grilled up a batch of St. Louis style pork steaks with an amazing marinade. He boiled up fresh corn from the farmers’ market and some of my freshly harvested carrots and parsnips. Oh, those veggies were good.

I made a St. Louis Mississippi Mud Cake – delicious. Absolutely delicious.

Frankly, between our menu and Aaron Rodgers’ arm, the Rams don’t stand a chance.

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Eating the Opponent goes Purple

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It was a day that wasn’t quite going right – a day to make the best of less-than-average situations. I decided to make our Eating the Opponent San Francisco from scratch instead of going to the store. We combined a home-made rice-a-roni style dish with a simple fish pan fried in butter to suggest Fisherman’s Wharf. I picked a few carrots, parsnips, and one turnip from the garden to enhance the rice-pasta dish. Rice and vegetables could cook well together, I thought.

The carrots were purple. The rice became purple, too.

Purple rice

Purple rice

It was delicious. After cooking in chicken broth, then adding a little maggi sauce, onion, garlic, and despite its hue, we enjoyed every bite.

I must remember these carrots when we play the Minnesota Vikings.

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Oooooooooh, tomatoes!

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There really ought to be a theme song for tomato season. We could sing it to the tune of Oklahoma.

But back to reality, I’ve had a lot of tomatoes become ripe and on the way to ripe. I pick most of them so we can eat them and the wild things in the neighborhood can not.

Tomatoes in the sun

Tomatoes in the sun

from left to right - ripening

from left to right – ripening

tomatoes for freezer

tomatoes for freezer

and last but not least, yellow pear.

and last but not least, yellow pear.

And there’s more where those came from, folks. Lots more.

Readers, do you have an abundance of tomatoes? What will you make with them? You can leave a comment here, and you can see more gardeners with an abundance of something on Harvest Monday at Daphne’s Dandelions.

 

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To Market, To Market – the Meat Market, that is

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Saturday’s usual downtown farmers’ market took a week off while the downtown held the fall festival we call Octoberfest. I dropped Amigo at his barbershop chorus’ booth where he volunteered as food prep, wrapping hot dog and hamburger buns in napkins. As we arrived, the guys already on site were singing “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” to a young woman who had just bought a hamburger.

I left to the tune of “On, Wisconsin” played by the nearby polka band, and Chuck and I stopped at the neighborhood meat market. We love this place. We can wander back to the butcher’s counter and discuss our Eating the Opponent menus and ask for their advice. We came home with this.

Saturday Market

Saturday Market

Okay, I admit it. We didn’t just buy meat. We bought the meat for KC style chili, I picked up a container of hot beef and two mini-lasagnas for those days when I don’t have time or energy to cook. The bread, a good nuts & twigs variety, was day-old and on clearance. What else? Oh, ham salad for Chuck – he just had a tooth pulled, and he’s eating soft and smooth whenever he can.

No fresh vegetables – at least not from this market. My living room and dining room are full of tomatoes in various stages of ripeness. I predict salads and BLTs and anything else that uses tomatoes on our menus this week.

Okay, readers. Do you have a creative way to use tomatoes? I’ll take suggestions.

 

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Happiness – for gardeners & canning fiends

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Happiness, simple pleasures, you name it – it’s all in how you see it. For an avid gardener and one who cans, an autumn Sunday brings simple pleasures such as these.

Tomatoes - enough to make salsa

Tomatoes – enough to make salsa

canning jars in the perfect size and shape for salsa

canning jars in the perfect size and shape for salsa

Good coffee - for a good reason.

Good coffee – for a good reason.

A good reason to pick up Starbucks Pike Place blend coffee: Eating the Opponent, Seattle. Go! Pack! Go!

 

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Tomatoes, Tomah-toes, guerrilla gardeners

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I planted cilantro – in shifts, so we’d always have some. And then, as the cilantro went to seed, I replanted it. I kept replanting it. The new planting didn’t come up and didn’t come up. Eventually, the cilantro started growing again. But wait – something else came up, too.

Say what?

Say what?

There seems to be a guerrilla gardener in the neighborhood, and I suspect he or she is very sneaky and very furry.

Meanwhile, I started rescuing tomatoes a little early, as soon as they start turning orange. Another (or the same) furry critter likes to grab the low-hanging tomatoes. This critter is picky, however. He or she doesn’t pick the green ones, but aims for those that are turning color. I thought most animals were colorblind?! But anyway, the tomatoes are ripening well in the sunshine from the window.

Yum. Looks like salsa.

Yum. Looks like salsa.

Readers, what do you think? Is the same sneaky creature responsible for both?

After you answer, take a trip over to Daphne’s Dandelions for more Harvest Monday posts.

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Barter Still Lives

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Money is important. Money talks, sings, dances, and buys political candidates. Oops, did I say that out loud? Money may rule, but barter, perhaps the oldest form of trade, still thrives.

A blogger friend in a nearby town had more ripe pears than even her three athletic boys could eat. I took a few bags off her hands and offered her a few day lily bulbs in exchange. I still think I got the better part of the deal. But anyway, it was a quick and easy barter.

La Petite bartered a professional photography studio for a thorough refinishing of three pieces of furniture. I think these two were fairly equal in value: both artsy, both professional, both talented people who value their time.

Swagbucks is a newfangled type of barter. In exchange for my time on their site, I earn “bucks” that I eventually use to buy gift cards. It keeps my kindle loaded – and more. In fact, if anyone is interested, click here to sign up. Disclaimer; I’ll be awarded a bonus of 10% of your total “bucks” for the referral. You don’t lose a thing. 

A few years ago we took care of a neighbor’s rabbit while the family was on vacation. We gained a new furry friend and swapped our time for firewood.

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Labor Day Harvest

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I’m simmering pear sauce on the stove. I’m waiting for Amigo’s laundry to be done so I can help him fold his clothes (his awesome t-shirt collection, mainly). I’m considering logging into my school account to see if anyone needs help. Meanwhile, I shall share the odd harvest for the week.

It’s odd for its amounts. The beans were nearly done, so I pulled the vines and found a few holdouts. My peppers aren’t doing well this year, but I found a few.

A Handful of Peppers and Beans

A Handful of Peppers and Beans

You can see them on the side – the root crops. I learned from my root crops this year.

Lessons in growing root crops

Lessons in growing root crops

I found turnips too close together. Either my square-foot measurements were off, or I dropped more than one seed in a space.

Parsnips are not ready yet. In fact, I had a similar problem with the parsnips. Note to self: next spring, plant carefully.

I did learn about radishes last year; I learned that I shouldn’t plant as many radishes or I should stagger the planting time. Here’s the latest: just enough for a salad or two.

Radishes, grown in a wooden box

Radishes, grown in a wooden box

Well, fellow gardeners and aficionados of fresh vegetables, enjoy your Labor Day, courtesy of the early Labor Unions. Here’s to a good harvest, and a good week to come.

Head over to Daphne’s Dandelions to see more Monday harvests across the USA and abroad.

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Harvest – and potential

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I spent much of July discouraging the tomatoes by plucking the blossoms as I watered and weeded. I wanted the plants to get taller and stronger before they had to support heavy tomatoes. Then we had a dry stretch followed by a cool stretch. Therefore, not much ripened.

Last night I did what teachers do as we’re facing the first full week of teaching: I worked on getting my home in order. In this case, I picked what I could and looked longingly at what I couldn’t. Here’s a taste.

Not many beans or peppers.

Not many beans or peppers.

Parsley - it all became bunny food. She loved it.

Parsley – it all became bunny food. She loved it.

It's a jungle out there! carrots, parsnips, and turnips

It’s a jungle out there! carrots, parsnips, and turnips. Later.

And the tomatoes – the potential tomatoes.

Beefsteak, I believe.

Beefsteak, I believe.

Romas - they need to fill out a bit first.

Romas – they need to fill out a bit first.

Ooh! Ooh! This one is orange!

Ooh! Ooh! This one is orange!

And when the others are ready to pick, these will be just beginning.

And when the others are ready to pick, these will be just beginning.

For other harvests, go to Daphne’s Dandelions for Harvest Monday. Meanwhile, I’ll be at my desk and in meetings and setting up a book fair for tomorrow – tomorrow!? Where did the time go?

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